What Would You Do?
by Todd's Pet
Summary: Un0named male wraith meets un-named female human... interspecies relations develop...


What Would You Do?

It's been almost six months since she was taken by the wraith. At first she thought worshippers were all voluntary, there because they saw wraith as some kind of gods. But she has learned over the months that there are almost as many reasons for living on a hive among these predators as there are worshippers themselves.

Quite a few of them, like her, were taken into captivity, like some kind of cross between a slave and a pet.

She also thought worshippers were shared by several wraith, but she has been claimed by just one and now lives with him in his quarters.

She wasn't sure what to expect and she hasn't had time to ask advice from any of the more experienced worshippers. So she doesn't know if her life of domestic drudgery with this sullen and uncommunicative wraith, who barely even looks at her, let alone touches her, is what might be considered "normal".

If he sees her as she might have seen a pet dog, then she is certainly a working pet, not a pampered one.

oOo

She lies awake and alone wondering why she puts up with him. There are days when she's barely more than a slave to him and she ends her day exhausted from just looking after him and clearing up his mess.

Why does she do it? Is it just to stay alive? She knows there are other paths she could have taken that would have guaranteed her life just as well, if not more. Even though she is captive, escape is not unheard of. She's young and strong and knows how to fight.

So why does she stay with him?

oOo

She had supposed that since he hibernates for hundreds of years at a time then he doesn't need to sleep in-between. But recently he has become more talkative with her, not just answering her questions but actively teaching her about his race and his culture. He explained to her that hibernation is different from sleep and even the animals from her own home planet that hibernate still need normal sleep sometimes.

oOo

It's the nights when she does not sleep alone that answer her own questions about why she stays. He does not demand anything of her on those nights when he shares her bed. So now she knows he's different from most of the wraith the other worshippers have told her about.

She lies in the darkness and listens to his voice as they talk, waiting for it to shift in pitch, become softer and drift away to nothing. Then she listens to his breathing until it becomes shallow and falls into a steady rhythm. Then she turns around to burrow herself into his back and snake her arms around his torso, taking comfort in the warmth of his body as she falls asleep.

She often wonders why he does not say anything when he wakes in the morning with her wrapped around him.

oOo

She has spent most of the day tidying up his mess and clearing his workstation. He has shown her enough of what he does so that she now knows what are important reports to be filed and backed up, and what are rough notes to be set aside for more work or simply deleted. She wonders sometimes how he ever managed to get by without her.

She has an hour or two before he's due back so she sits on her favourite bench where she can look out at the stars. She pulls out her mending basket and heaves his heavy black leather uniform coat onto her lap. Last week's cull had torn the sleeve in an awkward place for mending and she had been putting it off.

She sighs as she lifts it closer to begin stitching and a waft of a warm, spicy scent, almost like sandalwood, fills her nostrils. His scent; the smell of his warm skin as she curls up against him at night; the smell that she falls asleep next to.

oOo

She stands behind him where he sits and brushes his long, smooth, white hair, pulling the brush through the length of it and following the brush with her other hand to smooth it down. When she gathers a small handful of his hair to braid it, her fingertips brush the skin of his neck. It's these times that weaken her resolve to virtually nil; these fleeting moments when she can be close to him – even touch him – while he's awake.

oOo

"Some of us are leaving the hive," the other worshipper whispers nervously, "We're not prepared to be treated like slaves anymore."

"Worse than slaves – animals!" the second one snarls.

"Will you come with us?" the third one asks.

She's torn. She has no doubt that he sees her as no more than an animal, as her friend said, but where her friend's wraith treats her like a mangy cur, she feels more like a favourite pet. She knows she's luckier than most worshippers.

She does get so weary of the constant cleaning and grooming, but then again... she's almost ashamed to admit even to herself that she would miss their chats – and, even more, the warmth and the smell of him in the dark of the night.

She knows that her friends are badly treated by their wraith and understands why they are going to join the freedom fighters.

"You'll be killing wraith from now on..." she whispers.

"So?"

"But I don't want to kill wraith."

"What are they to you?"

She thinks about it, but cannot voice the answer when it comes to her: because she loves him.

oOo

"What is wrong with you, human?"

"I could ask the same about you!" she says angrily. She feels strangely unafraid around this wraith these days. She has spoken sharply to him twice in the last week and, while he was clearly not happy about it, he did not react aggressively as she had expected him to.

"The queen is in heat," he says. "The hive is in a state of... agitation..."

"I would have thought that would make you more aggressive," she observes, puzzled. "If anything you have been more patient with me than usual."

"I do not wish to lose an efficient worshipper," he tells her flatly. "But you, human," he goes on, "You have been more distant than usual. Do you no longer wish to be here?"

Oh god, she thinks, how could he be so far from the truth?

oOo

Another week has gone by and she can see the tension in him building to fever pitch. She wants to do something for him but he seems unapproachable. She's no simpering virgin but she's not experienced either and she doesn't even know if it works the same way with wraith. Perhaps her hints have been too subtle, or completely on the wrong track?

She doesn't know why but his distress upsets her and not for the first time today she has wished she could help him.

oOo

Lost inside her own thoughts she didn't realise she'd snagged his hair until he was snarling in her face. He'd whirled up and around from his chair so fast that it had toppled over and skittered several feet across the floor. He now stood growling at her, his feeding hand drawn back and his other hand wrapped around her wrist so tightly that she dropped the brush.

The clattering as it hits the floor snaps her out of what was almost a trance and she drags her eyes away from his eyes towards his feeding hand. As he slams it fast towards her sternum, she makes a grab for it to fend him off but he's too strong for her.

Even as she puts all her strength into trying to prize his hand from her chest, she can feel her own life force draining away. She thinks to herself, is this it? Am I to die because I snagged his hair? Something in her head snaps and, too stubborn to give in and die, she tries to fight back mentally.

Suddenly the fire in her chest shifts to a cool refreshing rush and the draining of her life force seems to put itself into reverse. She can feel energy coursing through her entire body and the ecstasy of it makes her want to cry.

oOo

"It is sometimes used to convert unwilling humans to worshippers," he explains to her later. "It is euphemistically referred to as 'suck'n'puke' by some of my brothers." He pauses and almost looks embarrassed before he adds, "It can relieve the tension of must... when the queen is in heat and a wraith is not chosen to mate, he can use it to replace..."

"Why don't you just have sex?" she asks impatiently.

"If the queen does not choose me, who am I to mate with?"

She glares at him, "I'm not good enough for you then, is that it?"

He looks away from her intense gaze and has the decency to look awkward. "I did not say that..." he starts to explain, but she has already left the room.

oOo

Sometimes she wishes she wasn't so strong, curses her own body for betraying her by keeping going, day after day, in spite of the bone deep exhaustion. Why can't she be a frail little thing and faint under the pressure?

Doesn't he understand what it takes from her every time he does that... that thing he does?

Why does she keep letting him do it? Well, she thinks to herself, she was the one who wanted to do something for him after all. And since he started doing it, he has calmed down a lot.

She's just not sure how much more of it she can take. Why can't she just die?

oOo

He knows that some wraith use their worshippers in that way, but it never occurred to him that she might actually wish it. He thought it was just the comforting warmth of another body she craved in the dark of the night, like a puppy burrowing into a lap for protection.

Could she really want him in that way? She certainly seems to trust him, enough to let him feed on her several times now, although he always gives back all he takes plus a little more. Could she actually want to mate with him? He decides there is only one way to find out...

oOo

"But it is because you are so strong - I would not do it to you otherwise!" His eyes are wide with concern as he speaks to her.

"Yes, I'm physically strong, I can take it, but for how long I'm not so sure," she says wearily. "And as for psychologically..."

He suddenly notices how tired she looks. It's as if he's seeing her through new eyes. He understands the depths of her strength, just how much more she has tolerated than the average human could have done and even remained standing upright.

"What if I told you I can't do this anymore? What if I wanted to break? What would you do?" she asks him.

He steps towards her and reaches his hand out to her. Before she can stop herself she instinctively steps back, out of reach of his feeding hand. His expression instantly saddens and he steps towards her again. He runs his hand through her hair. "I did not realise," he says softly, "If I had known how much it takes out of you..."

Suddenly her energy rallies and galvanises her to one last stubborn rebellion.

"I can't live like this anymore!" she yells. "I try to be a good little worshipper, but it isn't me! I can't stand it!" Her eyes burn into his as she challenges him. "Break me or take me! But DO something!"

oOo

She curls up beside him with her head on his chest, sighing in contentment at the feel of his strong arms around her shoulders, holding her close to him.

"How often does the queen come into heat?" she asks tentatively.

"Once a year," he answers.

"Do I have to wait a year for next time?"

He smiles broadly and looks her in the eyes. Even in the dark he can see them sparkle. He shifts his body round to face her and says, "What do you think?"

She smiles sleepily at him and turns around. He spoons into the back of her and wraps his arms around her body.

They sleep together with his feeding hand resting on her chest: the ultimate show of trust from her; the ultimate show of love from him.


End file.
